US wine critic Robert Parker described his Magical 20 tasting of Bordeaux 2009s at Wine Future in Hong Kong as the greatest tasting ever of young wine, and most certainly in China.

He told an audience of up to 1,000 wine professionals from across the world that the 2009 vintage would also prove to be one of the best Bordeaux vintages of his lifetime.

He said it was hard to compare the vintage to any other, but cited 1990 as being part of the same "family". The 20 wines chosen from across each of the main Bordeaux regions showed "the magic" and the "brains" of Bordeaux, said Parker.

All of which, he claimed, were first growth standard and if it had been held back in the 1950s or 1960s would have been better than the first growths of that time.
He said he was even more pleased with how the selection of 2009 wines had performed during the tasting than he had hoped, particularly as they had only been bottled within the last six months and then shipped to Hong Kong.

"I feel validated that this is a truly, truly magnificent vintage," he concluded.

He said all the wines showed the true qualities of the vintage, and that although high in alcohol and very concentrated had the sweet tannins and balance to deliver the elegance and finesse that makes the 2009 vintage so special.

"The tannins are sweeter and better integrated that I remember them in the barrel," he told the conference.

"All great wines have the ability to improve with age. These wines will be complex and interesting 75 years from now. That is why they get the prices they have."
He described the tasting also as "a great educational event" and could not be taking place in a more exciting part of the world for wine where there is such a passion and appetite for education around wine.

Bordeaux, he argued, was the benchmark against all other great wines and winemakers are judged. "No one who makes great wine does so without comparing it to Bordeaux. It is the reference point."

The full list of wines tasted were:
http://www.winefuture.hk/index.php?opt=congreso&s=catas&cata=catas

The tasting needed 45 sommeliers, many of whom had flown to Hong Kong specially for the occasion, to pour 1,400 bottles in to 20,000 glasses.